Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and today looks perfect. Which is great, because…Friday! Expect highs in the mid 80s, a gentle breeze, beauteous sunshine, and me to cut out of work and head to the pool at some point. Join me!

And then continue to join me as I try to escape from weekend temperatures that could approach 100 °F.

Water cooler

Somehow, I’ve missed the new garden at Floyd and Colonial, which is dedicated to a 2002 murder victim. It looks beautiful and should serve as a reminder for just how much Richmond has changed over the last 15 years. Back in 2002, Richmond saw 83 murders, with 14 both in November and December. Even this year, which a lot of folks feel like is an extremely violent year, we’re “only” on pace for 54 murders. Fatal shootings in the Museum District and those 2002 numbers are just so hard for me to envision now, in 2016.

There is a thing that I’m struggling with whether or not to talk about because I fully believe in the value of earned media. So instead, I will just encourage folks who may be downtown or on campus tonight to express their anger and emotion in legal ways that don’t end with them in jail and with Richmond on the front page of the New York Times.

Delete your account happened. Compare that bit of inspired writing to this overly dry description of it in the NYT: “Mrs. Clinton’s tweet telling Mr. Trump to delete his Twitter account was one of the most widely shared of the campaign.” Writing, man, it’s hard, but when you get it right, it feels so, so good.

This morning’s longread

In the summer of 2015, Barbie and her longtime friend, who goes by the handle Unicorn-Lift, had just discovered Liftblr. Liftblr, Tumblr’s notorious shoplifting community, is an ever-changing group of mostly young female bloggers who trade tips, write about criminal exploits, and post images of stolen merchandise known as “hauls.” Unicorn-Lift actually discovered the community through an anti-lifting post, written by someone enraged by the existence of the “shoplifting fandom.” She showed Barbie, and the pair found themselves drawn into the Liftblr world. They wanted to be part of it and earn a “lift” title. The only way to do that was to steal something. Unicorn-Lift, also 15 years old, hit the local Wal-Mart. Barbie found herself at the Dollar Tree.